A Man Out Of Time
by Cryden11
Summary: The story of one man's quest for revenge after his family is brutally taken from him.
1. Frozen

**Chapter One: Frozen**

Rick remembered when the bombs fell. It had been a day just like any other, he had been at home, with his beautiful wife and Shaun, his son. They had planned on taking a trip to the park after some breakfast, Codsworth had prepared the coffee just the way Rick liked it, in fact the only peculiar occurence had been a visit from a vault-tec representative. The family was eligible for a free space in the nearby shelter due to Rick's service in the armed forces, shortly after the representative departed, Codsworth had called, urging the young couple into the living room. A reporter had been live on air, imploring those with spaces in the shelters to report to them immediately. Nuclear detonations had been reported in many different parts of the country, including Washington D.C. Suddenly the screen cut to static, Nora ran to grab Shaun and they rushed out onto the street.

The usually quiet cul-de-sac of Sanctuary Hills, had been buzzing with activity, those with clearance to the vault rushed to register, the entrance had been built underground on a hill that overlooked Sanctuary, so high that you could make out even the town of Concord on the horizon. Husband and wife held one another outside the gates at the realisation that they would not be admitted to shelter.  
"But _I am_ Vault-Tec" the representative from earlier was furiously ranting at having been refused entry, horror dawning in his eyes as acceptance sunk in. Rick and his family stepped onto a large lift, just as it began to descend there was a blinding flash of light in the sky, followed by a cloud that began rushing across the landscape, consuming all in its wake. Just as the darknes had begun to thicken and the lift descended into safety, the faint cry of an infant could be heard, just for an instant, before it was cut short and the exit to the outside world was slammed shut overhead.

Below ground there had been a welcoming committee of staff all dressed in a variety of uniforms, urging the family further into the vault, the family put on the bright blue jumpsuits that had been handed to them and followed a scientist down the hall to a row of strange looking pods like nothing they had seen before, when asked what they were, the scientist explained they were for decontamination purposes, to remove any traces of radiation that we may have been exposed to before the lift hatch had closed. Not knowing any better, Rick stepped into the pod and waited, Nora and Shaun had been directed to the pod opposite, swollowing the lump in his throat and ignoring the knot in his stomach Rick promised that things were okay, calling out to his son, trying to keep him calm. Suddenly the doors to the pods came down, it got very cold, very fast, before he had a chance to panic, Rick's world went dark.

Rick had woke to the sound of gunfire, freezing, confused. The silence that followed had been pierced by the unmistakable shriek of a dissatisfied child. glancing up to investigate, Rick saw his wife stare through empty eyes, a crimson stain spreading across her abdomen, she crumpled. Even as he cried out to her, the cold was creeping back into his bones as he struggled to stay awake, to escape his confinement and go to her, to protect his son. Instead, darkness descended along with the cold. The fight left him.

Waking for a second time to find himself free of his bonds, stiff legs crumpled beneath him at the first tentative step. The images of what had previously occured swam in his mind like the memories of a drunken night, not fiction, but not quite lucid enough to be accepted, just a thought. A haunting, crushing thought. The uncertainty would not last long however. Laying on the cold, smooth floor, hands grasping for any purchase with which to drag himself to his feet, Rick had come into contact with a substance that had become all to familiar to him as a soldier, blood.

Rick recalled the first time he had killed a man, the look in his eyes as his life drained onto the ground, the fear and regret that danced across his face as the magnitude of his mistake became apparent. In an instant, Everything that had led him to this moment questioned, the regret of every risk not taken, every chance squandered washed over him, like waves on the shore, thoughts of the loved ones he'd leave behind, never learning of his fate. There could be no worse a way to die, than with full knowledge that you were experiencing your last moments, yet utterly powerless to prevent this fate.

Rick had dragged himself through the blood of the woman he loved, every inch like crawling across glass. Whoever had done this had left her where she fell, one hand outstretched towards the exit, reaching out for our son to the last. Rick gently slipped the wedding ring off of her rigid finger, and closed her eyes. At that moment something broke inside him, any compassion, sympathy or charity that he had clung onto through all of the wars was gone, it left when her eyelids closed and he kissed her for the last time. Nothing mattered to Rick anymore, other than finding Shaun. whatever awaited outside would kneel and provide, they would help him or they would burn.

During the journey back to the surface Rick felt a sense of dread, an anxious anticipation of what would be waiting, there had been movies about these kinds of events, extinction level occurences that changed the face of the earth and altered those unlucky enough to be left behind. Shielding his eyes, Rick was shaking as the elevator carried him upwards into the blinding light. Allowing himself some time to adjust to the glare of the sun, having not been exposed to it in God knows how long, Rick stood, breathing in the air he thought he would never breathe again, listening to the sounds he had been sure on the way into the vault he would never hear again. Opening his eyes, however, was all it took for my Ricks momentary peace to be shattered. Sanctuary had been obliterated, those houses that had not been blown away entirely were only half standing, some had simply imploded, having sustained critical structural damage. Glancing into the distance Rick noticed that Concord had also been hit hard, though some of the larger buildings such as the post office and the town hall remained mostly intact. Taking a deep breath, Rick set off into the distance.


	2. Saving the Minuteman

**Chapter Two: Saving the Minutemen**

As Rick reached the bottom of the hill he noticed Codsworth, seemingly as content as ever, floating around the street, tending to a flower here, sweeping up some dust there, as if nothing had ever happened. Rick bounded towards him, any concern for his oblivious behaviour being overtaken by the relief at seeing a friendly face, even if it was the family robot.

"Mr Rick, where have you been? You're 200 years late for dinner sir" Codsworth queried as Rick came to a skidding halt.  
Rick gasped, "200 years?" shocked at having been away for so long, no wonder the landscape appeared different, God only knows what the residual radiation had done to any wildlife or humans that had survived.  
"Yes master Rick you were underground for a very long time, things are different now, but as you can see I've kept the neighbourhood in tip-top condition for the family's return, speaking of which, where are little Shaun and the wife?"  
"They're gone Codsworth, someone killed Nora and took Shaun, did you see them? There were two of them, A man and a woman in strange outfits, did you see where they went?"  
"I'm sorry sir I have no idea who your referring too, the only people I have seen in some time were in Concord, perhaps they may be able to help you, they may be of a friendlier disposition to another human than they were towards me, I was chased out of Concord like some kind of rabble." His indignation apparent even through the monotone of his robotic voice.  
"Thanks Codsworth, I'll be back soon, then maybe we can start rebuilding this place." With that Rick set off on the road towards Concord.

Not a hundred metres down the road was the old red rocket station, Rick decided to check inside for some supplies. Ammo, food, anything that could be useful for the journey into concord. Drawing the 10mm pistol he had recovered from the vault, Rick began sweeping the rooms of the station and found a small amount of food, a handful of bullets and a machete. Rick placed the food and ammo into a backpack he had found and used a belt as a makeshift sheathe for the machete.

Whilst preparing to leave Rick heard a low, whimpering sound coming from behind a coolant pump, investigating Rick found a dog, with a gash running across one of its front legs, its eyes looked up at me, full of pain. Even all the pain he had suffered was not enough to make Rick callous enough to leave a dog, knowing it would die. Approaching slowly he reached out and allowed it to smell his hand, proving to it that there was not a threat, after a short while it allowed it's wounds to be bandaged using a small amount of cloth ripped from Ricks vault suit, leaving some food from his bag, the dog was left to recover in relative comfort. Making a mental note to return later Rick Turned his back on the truck stop and resumed on the road to Concord.

The sun had gone down by the time the town came into view, but in the distance the distinctive red streaks of laser fire could be seen sailing through the air from the town hall. The sound of return fire from the ground could also be heard, clearly ballistic weapons, low caliber. Rick hid behind a car whilst his eyes grew accustomed to the darkness, after being exposed to natural light for the first time in 200 years, his retina seemed to be having a difficult time coping with the different levels of light. The vault having been artificially lit after all. Rick overheard a conversation coming from a building nearby.  
"I don't see why we're wasting so much ammo and time on these fuckers" came one voice, gruff and unrefined.  
"Because that's what Gristle wants us to do, do you want to go back there empty-handed? Don't you remember what happened to the last guys who came back with nothing,They ended up Gristle's dinner, that what you want?"  
"No, just wish we could get back, we ain't equipped to fight Minutemen, not even the one'a them."

Having heard enough to know these were not good people, Rick took the decision to help this 'Minuteman' whoever the hell he was. Rick drew the machete he'd recently found, the blade glinting in the light cast by a nearby fire. creeping towards the door, Rick kept himself low with his weight distributed evenly, upon reaching the door he cautiously peered around the corner, two men were sitting by a fire barrel, one of whom was sharpening a combat knife whilst the other cleaned his gun, both were dressed in what looked like rags that had sheet metal attatched in places, which acted as make-shift armor, they clearly believed they were not in any danger as both had their backs turned to the door, a mistake no trained soldier would ever make. Rick began to sneak through the building, until he was within metres of the men. Throwing the machete at the first man, blade over handle, he watched as it sailed through the air finally burying itself in the throat of the first man, he stood, dumbfounded for a moment and then with a gurgle, crumpled to the ground, by the time his comrade turned to find the intruder, Rick had rushed in close and disarmed him with a blow from the butt of his gun.  
"Don't shout, don't move, don't even speak unless I ask you too, understand?" the man nodded. He was even uglier up close, with a multitude of scars covering his face, one of which had clearly taken one of his eyes, running from his forehead down past a milky-white pupil.

"Who are you people?" Rick demanded of the man, watching his eyes his hands, to make sure he didn't try anything.  
"Ain't nobody so far as your concerned, ain't no business with you, just wannna get to the Minuteman and his friends, locked up in that there building we're all camped around, you don't look like one'a them, what's it to you?" He looked me up and down, trying to figure me out. "You a vault dweller huh? Look like you don't know which way is up around here, well let me tell you. If you mess with us, we will fuck you up, turn around now, and maybe we don't come looking when we're done here".  
He would be no more use Rick realized, since the beginning of this conversation he had been twitching, his eyes were two huge black saucers and he clearly hadn't realised he was in no position to be making threats, knowing the signs of narcotic use and not wanting to waste any more time, Rick raised his pistol and put a bullet between the junkie's eyes, knowing the sound of gunfire would simply blend in as part of the skirmish, not alerting any of his group nearby.

The sound of gunfire did not cause anyone to come running, just as anticipated. After retrieving his machete Rick began to comb through the rest of the building, methodically, just as he had been taught back in the academy, as he had perfected on many tours as a soldier. Having been a member of the special forces, an accomplished marksman and demolitions expert, Rick was confident in his abilities.  
He had led platoons of men on missions none had been expected to return from and led those same men home to their families. These degenerates would not be difficult to overcome, no matter how many they numbered. The rest of the first building was clear. Walking back onto the street, practically invisible due to the lack of streetlights, Rick advanced on the town hall, careful to stay away from even the dimmest light being given off by the fires these men had started. The streets were deserted. Whoever was after this Minuteman, they had made it inside.

Knowing that this may be his best chance for answers Rick sprinted the rest of the way to the town hall. He burst through the door, gun drawn. Two men on a walkway on the second floor looked down in shock as He came crashing through the door, they barely had time to react before they were both put down by the superior marksman. The first received a bullet in the neck, dropping his gun as he clutched at his throat, desperately trying to prevent himself from bleeding out. The second had time to fire off a round, which grazed my cheek, before the remainder of Rick's clip was emptied into him, the force of the bullets pushing him back over the railing, he came crashing down to the ground floor. Reloading, Rick checked the corpse for ammo, he was out, as was the dead man unfortunately.  
"Looks like I'll be using the machete from now on" Rick thought to himself as he crept further into the building, as luck would have it the building was full of tight corners and cover, perfect for a melee engagement, Rick knew he could be upon anyone he saw within seconds, before they even realised he was there.

Finally making it to the top floor of the building, easily dispatching two of the rabble assualting the buidling on the way Rick reached what he knew was the hallway to the mayor's office, or it used to be anyway. the sound of the door being attacked could be heard echoing down the hallway.  
"You wait 'till we get in there, ya coulda had it easy, we woulda killed you quick, but no, you had to get brave, now I'm gonna skin you _alive,_ just you wait" there was an urgency in the mans voice that made Rick uneasy, he had met a lot of twisted people in war, but never anyone who relished the thought of killing quite like this man sounded like he did  
"Just get us in there, and then you do whatever you want" came a second voice.

Rick realised that his machete may not be of much use if both of his opponents had guns. It was time to improvise, scanning the room, Rick found a whiskey bottle hidden in one of the desks, someone who had worked here clearly had a problem. Realising that there was some whiskey still in the bottle he took a swig, grimacing as the the liquid hit his throat, It burned like hell, but it felt good after being dry for 200 years. preparing himself for what was to come, Rick counted down from three, throwing the bottle as hard as he could at a wall near the two men trying to break through the door. Whilst they were distracted, Rick sprinted down the corridor, slicing the arm of one clean off, gun dropping to the floor along with it as he screamed in agony, kicking him out of the way Rick rolled across the floor towards the second as he began to fire, clearly shaken by what he had witnessed his aim was awful and as Rick came out of the roll he stabbed with the machete and found his gut, deftly drawing the blade out finishing the man off with a slice to the neck. Turning back to the first, who was still looking at his stump in shock, Rick began to advance on him, looking on with detatchment as the pain danced across his face, as he reached him he lashed out with his fist, striking the bridge of his nose, pulling back for another swing, and another and another. All of the fury and pain that Rick had felt channeled into those savage strikes, until the man was unrecognizable, just a bloody mess on the floor. After a moment to get his breathe back Rick wiped his knuckles on the rags the man had been wearing to clean the blood off of them. Making his to the door they had been trying to breach he gently knocked.  
"Its okay, I took out the guys in the building, ones outside too, your safe now. My name's Rick"

The door opened slowly, A man wearing a duster coat and an old hat peered out, a laser musket at the ready.  
"I'm Preston, Preston Garvey, and _you_ have impeccable timing".


End file.
